Device for removing oxygen from beverage containers

ABSTRACT

A device which removes O 2  from air-filled containers ( 1 ) before the container is filled with a beverage and which includes an element ( 2 ) loading the container ( 1 ) with a material which is oxidizable into an oxidation product that is safe regarding foodstuffs.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a device for removing oxygen frombeverage containers.

Such beverages as beer, lemonades and the like are degraded by oxidationdue to oxygen (O₂) contained in the beverage. This condition changes thetaste. Accordingly a low proportion of O₂ must be assured when fillingthe containers with beverage. Another important criterion when fillingsaid containers with beverage is sterility. Biological germs must beprecluded from penetrating the beverage wherein otherwise they wouldmultiply, in particular in beverages not enriched with carbon dioxideand also those with high sugar contents, for instance iced tea. Moreovergerms substantially restrict the beverage's keeping properties.

Even when beverages are prepared very carefully, that is when they arefree both of O₂ and of germs while being filled with said beverages, theambient air already in the container nevertheless shall enrich them withO₂. Devices of the species of the present invention prevent oxygenenrichment during container filling by removing the O₂ from theair-filled containers.

A number of different devices are known in the state of the art. Priorto the filling procedure, the oxygen may be removed from the containerby setting up a vacuum in it, or by flushing the container with an inertgas such as CO₂. It is also known to fill the container in an enclosingchamber with inert gas. However all devices of this kind entailconsiderable equipment and solve the problem of germ contamination onlyby using elaborate sterilizing systems that illustratively operate bymeans of electrically induced plasmas.

The object of the present invention is to create a device of the abovecited kind which offers both a simpler design and long-term beveragekeeping.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In the present invention, the container's inside space is loaded with anoxidizable material. By oxidation said oxidizable material consumes theoxygen that is present in the container. In this manner said oxygen isremoved in a simple way. This oxidation being an exothermal process,heat is generated that kills the germs that are present. Making use of asimple element, which minimally shall be merely a tube to introduce forinstance hydrogen, the two essential procedures of oxygen removal andsterilization required to attain long-keeping beverages are thenfeasible simultaneously. When loading the container with an oxidizablegas or dust (for instance carbonl dust), uniform and practicallyautomatic distribution in the container's inside volume by swirling canbe attained, as a result of which the container's volume is processeduniformly and in its entirety.

The material may be highly reactive, that is self-igniting. Highlyreactive dusts such as fine carbon dust may be used. The ignition unitmoreover also allows use of materials that are not self-igniting andinstead ignition may be controlled to occur at an appropriateoperational time. In this manner the design introduces a degree offreedom for operation. An arcing path may be configured within thecontainer to operate in the manner of an automotive spark plug.

At least when the oxidizing procedure proceeds at an appropriate rate, achemical flame will be generated within the bottle and shall form aplasma. The energy content of said flame may be insufficient to kill allthe germs. Thereby the plasma is electrically post-heated to increasethe thermal energy. Moreover the plasma shape may be controlled byapplying a current to the chemically produced plasma, and as a resultand in an illustrative manner the plasma may be guided in a controlledmanner to be near the container's inside walls to sterilize them.

Advantageously, energy may be pumped from hf-loaded electrodes into theplasma, for instance this plasma may be shaped as desired.

Alternatively, a heating current from high-voltage loaded pointelectrodes may be made to pass through the plasma.

When using high-voltage point electrodes, they may be operated atvoltages sufficient for ignition and consequently a separate ignitionmeans is unnecessary.

The oxidizing material may be added in small or large amounts. Aftercompletion of the reaction, there still would remain residues of oxygenor material. When the material is added stoichiometrically to the O₂present in the container, the reaction will be residue-free and only thereaction product, for instance water, which is safe—for thefoodstuffremains.

The appropriate oxidizing material illustratively may be in the form ofdusts, in particular carbon dust, which oxidizes into CO₂. CO₂ iscontained anyhow in most beverages and is therefore harmless. H₂ and O₂result in the end product H₂O. Furthermore the resulting oxyhydrogenreaction is high in energy and very appropriate to kill germs and verysuitable to the constitution of a plasma which may be heatedelectrically.

CO may be used alternatively and be oxidized into CO₂. CH₄ (methane) maybe used alternatively, reacting into CO₂ and water and being availablevery economically. Higher hydrocarbons also may be used for suchpurposes.

In a further implementation, an oxidizable material may be used whichresults in an oxidation product suitable as a wall coating. SiH₄(silane) is suitable for such purposes, being easily distributed in itsgaseous form in the container and reacting into SiO₂ which is a materialextremely well suited to coating the inside walls of plastic bottleswhich thereby are imparted higher hermeticity. Also other liquidsubstances conventionally used in the manufacture of plastic beveragecontainers to form hermetic layers such as Hexamethyldisiloxane (HMDSO),Tetraethoxysilane (TEOS), Tetramethoxysilane (TMOS) may be used inatomized form for those purposes. Plastic bottles treated in such mannerkeep longer the carbon dioxide gas contained in beer and lemonades andthey block oxygen penetration.

A similar effect may be attained by adding an auxiliary materialreacting to a wall coating material. The auxiliary material may be inthe form of monomers which during the oxidation of the oxidizablematerial react into polymers such as polystyrene. The resulting polymersdeposit on the container's inside wall and again impart an increase inhermeticity to said container.

The device of the invention should make sure that the invention'sremoval of oxygen and the sterilization of the inside space of thecontainer being filled is not reversed by contaminating fresh air fromthe outside. If the device of the present invention operates within achamber filled with inert gas, any subsequent container contaminationshall be precluded.

When the container inside is flushed with an inert gas before theoxidizable material is added, the container's content of oxygen shallalready be decreased on that account. Therefore only a lesser quantityof oxidizable material need then be added and the energy of chemicalreaction taking place is lowered. In this way the consumption ofoxidizable material may be reduced and hence also the heat generatedduring the chemical reaction. In this manner an additional degree offreedom of control is attained in the procedure being carried out.

The appended drawings show the invention in illustrative and schematicmanner.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a cross-section of a device according to the invention andof a container, and

FIG. 2 shows an embodiment variation in a view according to FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 shows a container 1 mounted by omitted fasteners to theprocessing site of the device of the invention. Illustratively thecontainer is a presently conventional PET plastic bottle.

The shown device includes a loading tube 2 of which the mouth 3 blowsinto the inside of the bottle 1. A material from an omitted supply canbe blown through the loading tube 2 controlled by a valve 4 in thedirection of the arrows into the bottle 1.

Appropriate materials must be oxidizable into an oxidation product safewith respect to foodstuffs. Appropriate materials illustratively aredusts, in particular fine carbon dust that oxidizes to CO₂ which isinnocuous for beverages. A number of gases, in particular H₂ (hydrogen),CO (carbon monoxide) and CH₄ (methane) are appropriate materials, whichrespectively oxidize into water, CO₂, and water and CO₂, that is, beingwholly compatible with beverages. Furthermore oxidizable liquids inatomized form also may be used.

In the shown device of the invention, the container 1 is open and filledwith air. Accordingly it contains a proportion of O₂ (oxygen). Areactive mixture is created when the said material is blown into thecontainer, and the blowing action assures good mixing throughout theinside volume of the bottle 1.

The oxidation reaction, for instance in the case of the oxohydrogenreaction (O₂ with H₂), is ignitable. For that purpose the device shownin FIG. 1 comprises an ignition system whereby an igniter 5 generating ahigh-voltage pulse applies, through an ignition cable 6, an ignitionvoltage pulse to two electrodes 7 configured within the bottle 1. Usingappropriate igniter control, ignition may be predetermined at anappropriate processing time.

During the oxidation reaction, the oxygen contained in bottle 1 isconsumed. In this procedure, the valve 4 in the loading tube 2 can becontrolled in a manner to add the material in an amount whichcorresponds to the stoichiometric ratio to the oxygen in bottle 1. Inthat case both the said material and the oxygen shall have been consumedeach without leaving a residue.

The exothermal reaction of oxidation for example in the case of theoxohydrogen reaction entails both very high heating of the gas in thebottle and plasma formation. As a result the biological germs containedin the bottle will be killed. If the chemical energy should beinsufficient to kill all the germs, then, as shown in FIG. 1, the saidplasma may be post-heated electrically.

For that purpose electrodes 8 are mounted on both sides of the bottle 1and are connected by the shown conductors to the high-frequencygenerator 9. If said generator is ON during the said oxidation reaction,the high-frequency energy will be pumped into the plasma which is thenheated electrically to add to the chemical heat of reaction. However, inan alternative implementation, the applied high-frequency field also maybe used instead for heating, for instance to shape the chemicallyproduced plasma in the container, in order to direct the plasma forinstance onto the container walls to sterilize this zone.

FIG. 2 shows an embodiment variation making use as far as possible ofthe same reference numerals as in FIG. 1.

The device shown in FIG. 2 again loads the bottle 1 through the loadingtube 2 with an oxidizable material. However point electrodes 10 areconfigured above and below the bottle and are connected by the shownconductors to a high-voltage generator 11. Said generator is able togenerate, at a very high voltage, a disruptive breakdown igniting thereaction, for instance the oxohydrogen reaction. Furthermore the saidgenerator 11 may be used to apply electrical energy in the form of acurrent between the point electrodes 10 to the plasma of the oxidationreaction so as to heat this plasma or control its shape.

As shown by FIG. 2, the loading tube 2 of this embodiment ends above therim of the container 1. Accordingly the loading tube 2 need not beraised when changing containers. This design also may be used for theembodiment of FIG. 1.

Besides the materials already cited above, namely carbon dust, hydrogen,CO and the like, oxidizable materials also may be used that react intoan oxidation product suitable as a coating substance. In particular SiH₄(silane) may be used, which reacts into SiO₂ and water. Following itsformation, SiO₂ deposits on the container's inside wall and increasesits hermeticity. Therefore the filled-up beverage is better protectedagainst penetration by oxygen and against CO₂ leaking. Such goals alsomay be correspondingly attained using other appropriate materials, forinstance the liquids HMDSO, TEOS or TMOS, that may be added in atomizedform.

To attain the same goal, an auxiliary material illustratively fedthrough a second loading tube 12 shown in FIG. 2 may be added to thealready cited oxidizable materials such as H₂ or CO which per se do notreact into a wall coating substance. Said auxiliary materialillustratively may be a monomer which during the oxidation reacts into apolymer. The polymer again deposits on the inside wall of the container1 and improves its hermeticity.

The devices 1 of the invention shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 operate with opencontainers 1. In this configuration, ambient fresh air enriched withoxygen and germs may subsequently flow into said containers. To precludesuch a condition, said devices of the invention may be placed within achamber (not shown) filled with sterile inert gas.

As regards the embodiments shown above and prior to the addition ofoxidizable material, the container 1 holds ambient/normal air having anoxygen concentration of about 20% as is the case in the standardatmosphere. Accordingly an oxidizable material must be added in thecorresponding stoichiometric proportion and, where called for, followingignition, the oxidation reaction then will take place. In this mannerthe quantity of oxidizable material predetermined by the naturalproportion of oxygen will be consumed and a corresponding quantity ofheat will be generated by this exothermal process, said heat leading toa strong rise in temperature. In this procedure a substantial quantityof oxidizable material will be consumed and the resulting heat maydamage for instance the container, or cause high explosive pressures.

To control such conditions, one embodiment variation offers a flushingelement which first flushes the container 1 with an inert gas such asCO₂. The flushing element may be the loading tube 2 which is connected(not shown) through a switching valve to a supply of inert gas inaddition to being connected to the supply of oxidizable material.

Because of the prior flushing of the container, the oxygen proportion inthe inner container space will be reduced for instance from 20 to 5%. Arelatively short time of flushing suffices for such reduction. Then,after switching the switching valve, oxidizable material is fed throughthe loading tube 2 in the manner described above and in a quantitymatching the stoichiometric ratio relative to the residual oxygenproportion in the container after said initial flushing. As a result theconsumption of oxidizable material is reduced and so is the energygenerated by the exothermal reaction.

1. A device for removing O₂ from air-filled containers (1) beforefilling with a beverage comprising: it comprising an element (2) whichuniformly loads the container (1) through its volume with a materialwhich can be oxidized into an oxidation product that is safe regardingthe foodstuff.
 2. The device of claim 1, comprising an ignition system(7, 10) which effects an ignition within the volume of the container. 3.The device of claim 2, wherein the ignition system comprises an arcinggap (7) arranged within the container (1).
 4. The device of claim 1,further comprising a system (8, 10) to apply an electric current to aplasma generated during oxidation.
 5. The device of claim 4, furthercomprising hf-loadable electrodes (8) configured outside the container(1).
 6. The device of claim 4, further comprising external, hf-loadablepoint electrodes (10).
 7. The device of claim 3, further comprising agenerator (11) producing high voltage adequate for ignition of saidmaterial.
 8. The device of claim 1, wherein the material isstoichiometrically added to the O₂ contained in said container.
 9. Thedevice of claim 1, wherein the material is H₂.
 10. The device of claim1, wherein the material is CO.
 11. The device of claim 1, wherein thematerial is CH₄.
 12. The device of claim 1, wherein the materialoxidizes into an oxidation product suitable for wall coating.
 13. Thedevice of claim 12, wherein the material is SiH₄.
 14. The device ofclaim 1, further including an auxiliary material reacting into a wallcoating during the oxidation reaction that is added to the oxidizablematerial.
 15. The device of claim 1, wherein the container (1) isenclosed in a chamber filled with inert gas.
 16. The device of claim 1,further comprising a flushing element (2) flushing with inert gas thecontainer (1) prior to said container being loaded with the oxidizablematerial.
 17. The device of claim 6, further comprising a generator (11)producing high voltage adequate for ignition of said material.